Stories of
American Heroes -
Brought to you from the "Home of Heroes" - Pueblo, Colorado

Thomas C. Murphy

TAPS

Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky,
Gleaming bright.
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, From the hills,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Then good night, Peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn
Shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, good night.

Green Valley Cemetery

Born:1842 at Ireland

Entered
Service in the US Army from Pekin, IL

Earned The Medal of Honor During the Civil War For heroism
May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg, MS

Died:December
31, 1920 at the age of 78

The Vicksburg
campaign was waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. It included
battles in west-central Mississippi at Port Gibson, Raymond,
Jackson, Champion Hill, Big Black River and numerous smaller
battle fields. On the morning of May 22, General Grant launched
what he hoped would be a crushing assault against Vicksburg. In
the fighting that followed, the Union Infantry was repulsed and
thrown back along a three-mile front. The Union Army suffered
more than 3,000 casualties, and 97 Union soldiers earned Medals
of Honor (the second largest single-day total in history.)
Corporal Thomas Murphy earned the Medal of Honor for voluntarily
crossing the line of heavy fire of Union and Confederate forces,
carrying a message to stop the firing of one Union regiment on
another. Following the failed assault on May 22, a forty-seven
day siege was laid against the city, which finally surrendered
to Union forces on July 4.